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Yak Herding-the Challenges and Opportunities in Bhutanese Himalayas
Perna Wangda
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Abstract
Sandwiched between China in the north and India on all three sides, Bhutan is home to about 43 000 yaks in 10 out of 20 districts of the country. Yaks were reared in Bhutan by transhumant pastoralists at an elevations ranging from 3 000 ~ 5 000 masl, benefitting approximately 1 400 households in the country. Yaks are reared since time immemorial, owing to various functionalities provided by them such as providing food and fabrics, providing draught power for haulage in the high altitude areas, high adaptability to cold climatic conditions and rugged terrain, besides defining distinct culture and tradition and strengthening the social bond among the communities.
Lately, there has been a rapid decline in the population of yaks as well as yak herding households and the yak herding is losing its importance. The challenges to yaks and yak herding communities in Bhutan are manifold. Firstly, unprecedented developmental activities in the valleys have resulted in inequity to high altitude pastoralists for access to basic amenities, triggering rural-urban migration in search of better livelihood options. Secondly, there is shrinkage in the size of yak grazing areas due to encroachment by unpalatable shrubs as a result of ban imposed by the government on the use of traditional management practice of burning. With the decreasing grazing grounds and its low productivity and competition for limited grazing resources from wild ungulates mainly Takin and Bluesheep, yak rearing is not seen as an attractive enterprise. Moreover, the traditional grazing lands and its rights previously vested with the pastoralists are nationalized with the enforcement of the Land Act 2007. Although the pastoralist can retain their grazing rights, it is likely that the lease fee will substantially increase as per the new prescribed lease fee, given the current stocking rate of 1 Livestock Unit for 25 acres of grazing areas. Thirdly, the legalization of Ophiocordeceps sinensis trade is
another challenge to sustain yak herding because it generates much higher income than yak herding. Other direct and indirect challenges that contribute to declining yak husbandry practices are lack of appropriate interventions in yak breeding strategies to improve yak breeds, poor animal health care coverage, shortage of household labour due to shift in labour market where the youth opt to move out to urban areas, poor infrastructures of yak products processing and marketing, intensive dairy development in the valleys and creating strong competition in the marketing of yak products. [...]
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About
Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development( ICIMOD), GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
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